Gas-producer.



A. M. eow.

GAS PRODUCER. APPLICATION FILED DEC-20,IQI1- Patented July 9, 1918.

' ALEXANDER M. G@W, F DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

ens-raenucnn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8?, 3 .918.

' Application filed December 20, 1917. SerialNo. 208,079;

i To (ZZZ whom it may. concern ducers, of which Be it known that I, ALEXANDER M. Grow, a citizen of the. United States, and resident of Duluth, in the county of- St. Louis and State of .Minnesota, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Gas-Pro cation.

This invention relates to gas producers.

Oneiof the objects of my inventionis to automatically feed fuel uniformly and maintain the fuel bed in the best possible condition.

Another object of my invention is to maintain .the fuel in the. coking zone uniformlyporous and open; I Another object of my invention is to feed nd mechanically distribute the fuel. continuously and uniformly over the entire surface of the fuel body at any desired rate of p e Another object is to provide a gas produce'r adapted to meet all the requirements- 'for successful commercial operation.

Generally speaking, these and other object'sare accomplished by, providin in combination, a gas producing chamber, means for feeding. and distributing fuel in said chamber, and means whereby the fuel.

is maintained in a uniformly porous and I open 'conditibn.

ThB.i,I1VI1lZ-1OI1 is illustrated. on the ac .companying sheet of drawings, in which Figure l is a sectional View of a gas producerconstructed in accordance With my invention,- some of the parts being shown in elevation; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view taken at right 'angles-to the one shown in Fig. l.

The various novel features of my inv e n- "tion' will be apparent from tne following description and drawings and Will be particularly pointed out claims.

When a coking, bituminous coal is fed to a. producer, the heavy hydrocarbon gases and tar vapors are first given oft. Thefuel becomes soft and sticky, offering consider; able resistance to the passage of air and steam admitted below. As the fuel descends it is progressively coked. Below this coking zone the fuel is consumed or gasified' Bein the appended low the zone of combustion or gasification lies the ash zone, wherein the fuel content the following is a specifithe proper operation of a producer the fuel bed should {descend uniformly and offer uniform resistance-to the blast. It is Well known that if coke or a semi-bituminous non-caking coal is used, little trouble is experienced -from irregular combustion of the fuel bed and little poking is required. With acaking, bituminous coal, however, there is a great-tendency for the blast to Wander, resulting in irre ular consumption of fuel, holes in the fuel bed, hard spots in the fire, high fuel bed on one side and low on the other, and irregularity in the quality of the sary to either poke the fuel bed by hand, or resort to some mechanical poking or stir ring device.

To this end I propose to chop the fuel in the coking zone by means of a. verticallyacting Water-cooled chopper. This chopper prevents the coking particles of coal from agglomerating; it reduces the resistof the blast, and maintains the top of the fuel bed uniform and homogeneous. In addition the chopping arm may be revolved and used to level the surface of the fuel at any desired height: Within the range of the mechanism. As stated above, I have also proposedto provide a feeding arrangement which shall mechanically distribute the fuel continuously and uniformly over the entire surface of the fuel body at any desired rate of speed.

After removing a quantity of ash from the bottom of the producer, it is desirable that the fuel bed be broken down. The vertically-acting chopper serves this purpose, inasmuch as it is capable ofvertical and. rotary motion at any desired speed.

Referring particularly to the drawings,

To correct these conditions it is neces-- is connected a cylinder 17 having laterally extending arm's 18,v to which are connected the rods 19 of pistons which operate in cylinders 20w To'the piston which works in the cylinder 17 is connected a piston rod 23, to the lower end of which is connected a poker 24, carrying at its lower end a.

chopper arm Secured to the upper end of the poker 24 is a ratchet wheel 26, which,

when the poker and chopper arm are raised,

moves into engagement with the pawls 27 pivotally mounted upon the frame 16. It

is apparent that as the ratchet wheel continues to move upwardly after it engages the pawls 27 the ratchet wheel, and with-it the poker 24 and chopper arm 25, will be forced to rotate a. predetermined amount commensurate with the amount ofrising movement of theratchet wheel. The fluid supply to the piston 17 is controlled by a valve 28,-

, which preferably is continuously rotated by any suitable means to permit the passage of fluid into the cylinder 17 to cause an upward movement of the piston and therefore the f chopper arm 25, and then to permit" the fluid to escape-through connection 29 as the piston and therefore the chopper armv lower due to their own weight. The upper part of the cylinder 17 is provided with a vent 30.

'. Due to the fact that the bed ofcoal in the gas producing chamber 11 variesin height, it is necessary that the chopper arm in its lowest position of adjustment be ad:v just-able with its cylinder17 while still maintaining the same effective stroke of the chopper. This is accomplished by rais ng the cylinder 17, poker 24 and chopper. 25

as a unit by regulating the fluid controlled valve '31 to permit a'supply of fluid pres-.

lower end of the hoppeni32 is regulated by.

a distributor 3 5 mountddupon one end of a shaft 36, upon the other end of which. is splineda gear 37 meshing with a I secured to the "guide'members 16?. A lever 39 connected to theshaft 36 regulates the.

gear 38 extent of the-opening 34, and therefore the amount of fuel which is supplied automatically to the gas producing chamber 11. 'It will be understood that as the top 12 of the gas producer is rotated, the

I I will-be moved in a circle. Due to the fact I will be given a rotary movement, the'coal' that the gear 38 is stationary, thedistributer being mechanically distributed continuously coal hopper 32,

and uniformly over the entire surface of the coal body, and, as a matter of fact, at any desired rate of speed. -Water for cooling purposes is passed into the inlet pipe 40, which is conveyed through the hollow poker 24 and chopper-25 by pipe 41, which term-inates in the chopper 25. The water overflows through an outlet 42 in the upper part of. the poker 24 and passes downwardly into a pipe 43 extending around the poker 24 pipe 44, and upwardly between pipe 44 and pipe 45.' Theintermediate pipe 44 is held stationary while the pipes 43 and 44 rotate with the top of the gas producer. In this way the parts in question are efi'ectively cooled. The water in thepipes 43, 44 and 45 serves to provide a water-seal. I

In operation, a fuel bed having been. established in chamber 11 to a desired height, valve 28 is actuated, causing the piston and cylinder 17 to travel upward, lifting the chopper 25 out of the fuel bed. At the upper end of the stroke the pawls 27 engage the ratchet wheel'26 .and produce a partial revolution of the poker 24, thus revolvingchopper 25 above the fuel bed. As valve 28 revolves, the steam or air, or any other fluid, is released. from under the piston, and

thepoker 24 and chopper 25 fall by gravity and descend into the fuel bed an amount depending upon the weight of the moving parts and the resistance offered by-the fuel. It will be observed that I do not drive the chopper down by pressure, but allow it to fall by gravity. 'It is not my desire to ram thesurface of-the-fi're. It is obvious that the weight of'the reciprocating parts can be counterbalanced so that any desired chopping blow'may be delivered. In the event that the chopper'25 meets undue resistance it doesnot force itself into the fire. The continued revolution ofvalve 28. causes the upward stroke when the chopper arm 25 is above the fire'a partial rotation is given to the parts, the result being that the entire surface of the fuel bed receives the chopping action. I

The chopping armmay be given a variety chopper arm is sharp and in cross section it is wedge-shaped and preferably is fabricated from sheet steel welded at thejoints. The height of the fuel in a gas producer necessarily is variable. Byimeans of the chopper arm 25 may be actuated atva'rious levels, depending on the level of the-fuel in the producer." I 1 As the producer top v12 -revolves it carries with it the'hopper 32. The-distributer 35 revolves and the fuel in the hopper .is uni; formly distributed, the rapidity of feed being determined by the opening between the and downwardly between the pipe 43 and reciprocation of the poker. 24, while at each i -1i5:".=- of shapes. However, the lower endo'f the 'cylinders20 controlled by the valve 31 the distributor end the bottom of the hopper 32, which opening'is determined byineans of the lever 39.

1f desired, the chopper 25 may be re 'volved manually by inserting a suitable Wrench in any one of the openings &6 in

ftne ratchet Wheel 26,- giving the latter a turning movement, It is obvious that various mechanisms may be provided which are seine at the upper end of the stroke, It is also obvious that the -functions performed by cylinders in determining the operative height ofthe chopper in the producer can .be performed by means of screws .or levers,

or-other'mechanism. In. fact, there-may be various, *mod ficatlons of the. invention herein 'part1cularly shown and described,

and it is my intention to co'ger all such modiutions Which'fio not involve a departure 'troin the-spirit and scope of the invention set foith'in the following claims.

lh hatl'claim iszc 1., In, combination, a gas producing chamber, means for distributing fuel in said chamber,- and reciprocatory and rotary means 'i'vhereby the 'fu'elin the coking zone is. maintained inf'ai uniformly porous conc ion,'the reciprocatory and rotary actions L taking place at different" times.

2.111 combination, a gas producing chamber, endmeans whereby the fuel in said,

chamber may be disturbed by a. vertical. movement throughout the Whole surface of the 'fuel du ringa complete revolution of said means, 7 1

' 3', In combination, agasproducing chamber, Ya chopper mounted therein-for -a verticahmovement to disturb the fuel in the chamber, and meansdor rotating said chop: perjcnljabove the surface of the fuel in saidYchamberwhereby different portions of the fiuelmay be disturbed.

- Q, In combination, a gas producing chanu her, a chopper mounted therein for distribu' ing they-fuel in a vertical direct1on,-and means fore-utoinatically rotating said choppcnonly after thesazne has been moved out of ehgagement with the fuel.

In combination, a gas producing chainuse, tertically arranged shaft, a transverse chopper-mounted thereon, means whereby the ertical shaft may be raised capable (if-raising and lowering the poker and chopper arm 25 and revolving the" 7. The method of maintaining a uniform condition of the fuel in the top of a gas producer which consists in chopping the fuel to a predetermined depth, raising the chopper above thefuel, and giving the chop per a partial revolution only when 111 a raised position,

8. In combination, a gas producing chamber, a'vertical shaft, a transverse chopper carried thereby, fluid actuated means for ra sing the vertical. shaft and chopper, and means for giving the shaft and chopper a partial rote Lion only when the chopper is in a raised position.

In combination, a gas producing chamher, a vertical shaft carrying a transverse chopper, fluid actuated'nieans for raising. the vertical shaft and chopper, and fluid actuated means for adjusting the operative position of said first mentioned means.

1.0. In combination, a gas chamber, a vertical shaft carrying a transverse chopper, means for adjusting the -height of the chopper relative to the fuel bed "in the producer, said chopper also being movable into the coking zone for disturbing fuel therein, and means whereby the vertical shaft may be rotated for causing the chopper to level the fuel bed within the producer. 7

11. In combination, a gas producing chamber, a chopper mounted therein for disturbing the fuel in the coking zone, means for adjusting the height of the chopper relative to the fuel bed, and means whereby the chopper may be rotated for leveling the fuel bed Within the producer.

Signed at Duluth, Minnesota, this 17th day of December, AJD, 191.7.

- ALEXANDER M. GO W.

Vit'nesses [urn-inn l3. Man'rnny, JAMEs B. CASEY.

producing 

